I mentioned before about what got me hooked on Stingrays, however, I thought I'd have a chat about my experience with Stingray Basses. See I have a couple of them. My first Stingray was a 91 Ernie Ball. A nice orange number with a great sound. I mentioned to you that one of the reasons I got into Stingrays was that I liked "Flee's" Bass playing and his sound.

It was about a year or so later that I found my gem. And I still can't believe the guy was going to sell her. It was a classic case of the girlfriend wanting to settle down and the "other woman" (a classic vintage sunburst pre Ernie Ball Stingray) had to go.

A friend of a friend told me about Danny's dilemma. Now, most of us muso types are always strapped for cash, and to swoop in and pick up a bargain when they present themselves can be challenging. In my case the timing couldn't have been more perfect.

You see, I was in a long distance relationship. My girlfriend lived in Vancouver Canada, and I lived on the Gold Coast of Australia. I had saved up enough money for an airfare to visit her, but not quite enough to survive once I arrived. To cut a long story short... I used the cash reserved for the airfare to buy the Stingray. Yeh, insane or what... but it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. What about the girlfriend?

My girlfriend was a total champion about it... So much so that, we are still together 16 years later.

I said all that to say this... The old original Stingray has an awesome sound. It is far richer and has a much fatter bottom end. Sure it only has the two tone adjustments but there is just something wonderful about the instrument. The through the body strings seem to ad a more earthy tone too.

Obviously this instrument became my main one. I used it for nearly all of my recording sessions, (except for when a Jazz Bass sound was required). Other musicians (keyboard dudes) have sampled the sound of my bass and used it in recordings of their own.

Now, I'm not bagging the Ernie Ball Bass. They are awesome, but if you can find an old one, and it sounds cool, do yourself a massive favor and buy it.

My guess is that if you are reading this, you are already a MusicMan fan. Why did I chose to play stingray's? The answer for me was simple. I used to have an Ibanez Silver Series (Law suit series) Bass. It was a classic beat up x-punk rock band weapon, and I loved it. The tone was earthy, rich in timber and fat for a P Bass style.

It turns out someone else thought they would love it more than me,,, it was stolen along with my ancient original early eighties Ibanez Sonic Distortion pedal. Although it wasn't ancient back then,,, it was 1985. My P-Bass was my second ever bass guitar. With the loss of it and no insurance coverage, I resorted back to my trusty Westone Thunder 1. Not long after that I unfortunately went through a non musician phase and had to flog off some of my gear in order to make rent payments... Anyone else been there? (I did keep my bass though).

It wasn't until a few years later,,,(like about five) that my passion for playing bass was rekindled... I wonder if my divorce had anything to do with it? Anyway, a backpacking trip around the world that coincided with the release of Nirvana's Never Mind and then the Red Hot Chili Pepper's, Blood Sugar Sex Magic, (which were both introduced to me via another backpackers walkman,,,, yeh, back in the day hey...) and I knew as soon as I got back home, I was going to get one of those basses... Especially after hearing the insane stuff and grooves that Flea was laying down...

Like many other bass players, I possibly would never have found "my sound" if I weren't introduced to a Stingray. Flea used to use Galien Kruger Amps... I found my sound by matching my Stingray with Trace Elliot amplification. Bloody awesome....

It’s been said that “you are either a bass player, or you’re not”. I heard this statement at my very first Bass guitar lesson back in 1981. My teacher, Jose McLaughlin was the original Bass Player from the 60’s British Pop band “Jerry and the Pacemakers”. It took me a while to fully grasp the statement but I have come to fully understand the truth behind it.

I was originally a guitarist and had never really bothered to listen to the Bassist in any of my favorite bands. I was always too focused on the guitar tones to hear anything else. Like many bass players I first picked up the bass because of an ad at the local music store cork board. “Wanted, Bass Player for serious rock band” Call Paul, (Tear off the phone number) … Mmmm, I thought, “How hard can it be to play bass? These guys sound like they want to do something with their musical passion, so do I.”

I purchased my first bass guitar, a Westone Thunder 1 from Gary at Tweed Heads Music for $360.00. It was an unusual looking thing but sounded good to me. Turns out it sounded good to Jose too. Phew!

Wisdom from my Bass Mentor

Among the many statements and discoveries of that first lesson was this. Jose said to me, “listen to as many different styles of music as you can, and in particular listen to the bass. Then try to figure out what they are playing,,, and most importantly WHY they are playing it in the context of the music and the drums.”

I revisited my favorite albums…. WOW!!! How come I had never heard this amazing instrument before??? I realized the strangest thing. All my most favorite songs all had awesome bass grooves. It was my epiphany… and A BASS PLAYER was Born… Deano Bass,,, this is who I became… I loved it.

The whole world of music opened. Many bass players are misunderstood and underestimated in their musical ability. One of the beauty’s of being a bass player is that you must hear EVERYTHING that the band is doing. After a while you develop a great appreciation for the sounds and tones of all aspects of the band including the drums and cymbals. Bass players hold the band together as the connector of the rhythm section to the rest of the band. Perhaps this is why many great sound engineers are bass players.

Sure there are some guitarists who can play really great bass licks, but few will ever master the bass groove like only a true bass player can do.

My definition of Groove: Being in the groove is when you bypass playing from your head and connect and play from your spirit. You may be playing the same notes but “being in the groove changes the atmosphere of the music”.